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These aren’t your Grandma’s baked goods, they’re better. With mixes like Kodiak Cakes and Birch Benders, downhome taste is as fast as pour, blend and bake.

Ellen Gibbs

You can also feel good about getting a hearty amount of 100% whole grain protein from a mix containing non-GMO ingredients.

Ellen Gibbs

Roots in tradition.

Both micro companies are built on midwestern values, and like the companies themselves, not only is pride and tradition rooted in the workplace, but in the products as well. Both started out as entrepreneurial ventures of small teams with big visions. For Birch Benders, it was a newly married couple with an idea for gourmet pancake mix with ingredients you can actually pronounce. As for Kodiak Cakes, a family-run business for over twenty years, the company started with a recipe that’s been passed down for generations. A mix first sold in paper lunch sacks to neighbors out of a red wagon, to being available to families to enjoy nationwide and beyond.

Ellen Gibbs

Values in Simplicity.

Life is complicated enough. Breakfast shouldn’t have to be. There’s nothing more disappointing than the moment a craving hits for a classic stack of flapjacks and you don’t have the time (or energy) to follow a recipe and measure out the ingredients. Mixes like Birch Benders, are as simple as just add water, so you don’t have to risk getting dense, flat or runny pancakes. It’s so easy you could make these before your first sip of coffee. Plus, these mixes don’t contain vague ingredients like distilled monoglycerides which are found in anything from baked goods to styrofoam and plastic bags. Kodiak Cakes has ingredients that you can actually recognize, like egg whites, leavening and sea salt. Chemicals are found in the lab, so have them on your plate?

Ellen Gibbs

Clean nutrition.

Treat yourself and your body with the nourishment it deserves through pancakes. Birch Benders was ranked one of the best high-protein breakfasts that doesn’t include eggs. There’s an option for every lifestyle, including low glycemic, (caveman approved) pumpkin spice pancakes. For you bodybuilders out there, Kodiak Cakes offers Minute Muffins in flavors including chocolate, cinnamon oat, lemon chia, blueberry (and yes, even pumpkin spice) with 9 grams of wheat protein isolate per serving. You’re only minutes away from an optimal level of energy with the help of wheat protein isolate, which the American Dietetic Association recommends as an alternative to protein found in meat for vegetarian diets.

Ellen Gibbs

Disclaimer: I received these mixes free of charge, but all opinions are my own.